Chapter 3 (Perception)

Question 1

Action pathway

Answer 1

Neural pathway, extending from the occipital lobe to the parietal lobe, that is associated with neural processing that occurs when people take action. Corresponds to the where pathway.

Question 2

Apparent movement

Answer 2

An illusion of movement perception occurs when stimuli in different locations are flashed one after another with proper timing.

Question 3

Bayesian interference

Answer 3

The idea that our estimates of the probability of an outcome is determined by the prior probability (our initial belief) and the likelihood (the extent to which the available evidence is consistent with the outcome).

Question 4

Bottom-up processing

Answer 4

Processing that starts with information received by the receptors. This type of processing is also called data-based processing.

Question 5

Brian ablation

Answer 5

A procedure in which a specific area is removed from an animal’s brain. It is usually done to determine the function of this area by assessing the effect on the animal’s behaviour.

Question 6

Direct pathway model

Answer 6

Model of pain perception that proposes that pain signals are sent directly from receptors to the brain.

Question 7

Experience-dependent plasticity

Answer 7

A mechanism that causes an organism’s neurons to develop so they respond best to the type of stimulation to which the organism has been exposed.

Question 8

Gestalt psychologists

Answer 8

A group of psychologists who proposed principles governing perception, such as laws of organisation, and perceptual approach to problem solving involving restructuring.

Question 9

Principle of good continuation

Answer 9

Law of perceptual organisation stating that points that, when connected, result in straight or smoothly curving lines are seen as belonging together. In addition, lines tend to be seen as following the smoothest path.

Question 10

Principle of good figure

Answer 10

See law of pragnanz.

Question 11

Inverse projection problem

Answer 11

Task of determining the object that caused a particular image on the retina.

Question 12

Landmark discrimination problem

Answer 12

Problem in which the task is to remember an object’s location and to choose that location after a delay. Associated with research on the where processing stream.

Question 13

Light-from-above assumption

Answer 13

The assumption that light is coming from above. This is a heuristic that can influence how we perceive three-dimensional objects that are illuminated.

Question 14

Likelihood

Answer 14

In Bayesian interference, the extent to which the available evidence is consistent with the outcome.

Question 15

Likelihood principle

Answer 15

Part of Helmholtz’s theory of unconscious inference that states that we perceive the object that is most likely to have caused the pattern of stimuli we have received.

Question 16

Object discrimination problem

Answer 16

A problem in which that task is to remember an object based on its shape and choose it when presented with another object after a delay. Associated with research on the what processing stream.

Question 17

Oblique effect

Answer 17

The finding that vertical and horizontal orientations can be perceived more easily that other (slanted) orientations.

Question 18

Perception

Answer 18

Conscious experience that results from stimulation of the senses.

Question 19

Perception pathway

Answer 19

Neural pathway, extending from the occipital lobe to the temporal lobe, that is associated with perceiving or recognising objects. Corresponds to the what pathway.

Question 20

The principle of perceptual organisation

Answer 20

Rules proposed by the gestalt psychologists to explain how small elements of a scene or a display become perceptually grouped to form larger units. These ‘laws’ are described as ‘heuristics’ in this book.

Question 21

Physical regularities

Answer 21

Regularly occurring physical properties of the environment. For example, there are more vertical and horizontal orientations in the environment than oblique (angled) orientations.

Question 22

Placebo

Answer 22

A pill or procedure that patients believe delivers active ingredients (usually pain killers), but which contains no active ingredient.

Question 23

Placebo effect

Answer 23

Decrease in pain from a procedure or substance that delivers no active ingredient.

Question 24

Law of pragnanz

Answer 24

Law of perceptual organisation that states that every stimulus pattern is seen in such a way that the resulting structure is as simple as possible. Also called the law of good figure and the law of simplicity.

Question 25

Prior

Answer 25

A person’s initial belief about the probability of an outcome.

Question 26

Prior probability

Answer 26

The same as prior

Question 27

Regularities of the environment

Answer 27

Characteristics of the environment that occur frequently. For example, blue is associated with open sky, landscapes are often green and smooth, and verticals and horizontals are often associated with buildings.

Question 28

Scene schema

Answer 28

A person’s knowledge about what is likely to be contained in a particular scene. This knowledge can help guide attention to different areas of the scene. E.g. knowledge of what is usually in an office may cause a person to look towards the desk to see the pc.

Question 29

Semantic regularities

Answer 29

Characteristic associated with the functions carried out in different types of scenes. E.g. food prep, cooking, and eating occur in a kitchen.

Question 30

Principle of similarity

Answer 30

Law of perceptual organisation that states that similar things appear to be grouped together.

Question 31

Principle of simplicity

Answer 31

Same as law of pragnanz.

Question 32

Speech segmentation

Answer 32

The process of perceiving individual words within the continuous flow of the speech signal.

Question 33

Theory of natural selection

Answer 33

Darwin’s theory that characteristics that enhance an animal’s ability to survive and reproduce will be passed on to future generations.

Question 34

Top-down processing

Answer 34

Processing that involves a person’s knowledge or expectations. This type of processing has also been called knowledge-based processing.

Question 35

Unconscious inference

Answer 35

Helmholtz’s idea that some of our perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions that we make about the environment. See also likelihood principle.

Question 36

Viewpoint invariance

Answer 36

The ability to recognise an object seen from different viewpoints.

Question 37

What pathway

Answer 37

Neural pathway, extending from the occipital lobe to the temporal lobe, that is associated with perceiving or recognising objects. Corresponds to the perception pathway.

Question 38

Where pathway

Answer 38

Neural pathway, extending from the occipital lobe to the parietal lobe, that is associated with neural processing that occurs when people locate objects in space. Roughly corresponds to the action pathway.